


Hiding in Haddock Hall

by Watermei



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Dad Nuffink, Family fun, Grandma Astrid, Grandpa Hiccup, Mom Zephyr, One Big Happy Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 21:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20297992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watermei/pseuds/Watermei
Summary: Hiccup’s grandkids and their friends are running around the house playing Hide and Go Seek. Meanwhile, Zephyr tries to host a council meeting. What could go wrong?





	Hiding in Haddock Hall

“1....2....3....4....5...”

His cousin continued the countdown and he bolted down the stairs, his sister and friends trailing behind. He didn’t understand why everyone was meeting in his house instead of the great hall. But that didn’t really matter, because it meant that he had home turf for the most epic game of hide and seek. Not paying attention to the rest of the hiders, he made his way to the large dining hall where the adults were settling in for more talks. 

He spotted his grandfather sitting in his oversized chair between the table and the hearth. “Perfect.” He thought. He zipped past the adults and swung himself down and underneath his grandfather’s chair. Making sure not to hit his head, he settled himself and got comfortable for the long game. He was hoping that the other kids would avoid the adults, essentially leaving him alone. This was going to be an easy win.

From under the chair he could see the hearth, glowing just enough to keep the room comfortable, but he found it boring after awhile. Scooting with his hands, he managed to turn himself around to face the front of the chair. He watched his grandfather rub his knee above his false foot. “It must be hurting.” He thought, “maybe that’s why we didn’t go to the great hall today.” He started to take a good look at the metal work, noticing the chinks from years of use.

Something tickled his scalp and he jumped. He saw his grandfather’s hand by his shoulder. “What are you doing down there Lars?” His grandfather said jovially. He swatted his grandfather’s hand away.

“Shhhhhh, Grandpa.” He whispered out the whine, “playing hide and seek.”

His grandfather chuckled before returning his wiggling fingers back to his lap. “Okay, I’ll keep quiet, don’t worry.” Lars heard the chair creak with movement, and he watched as his grandfather’s fur cloak draped over the chair, essentially blocking him in and hiding him from view. 

“Thanks Grandpa.” He whispered gratefully. Now it was just a waiting game. He tried to keep an ear out for the other kids. He heard footsteps and the occasional stomp from upstairs, but nothing close to him. The adults had started to settle down around the table, the noise of chairs being moved and old people oooph-ing as they sat down. 

“Babe, are you cold? I can have Snotlout get some more logs for the fire.” Lars pulled back the furs to peek out in time to see his grandma sitting down next to him. She smiled and patted her lap, “you wanna sit on my lap Lars?” He did want to, but the game took precedence. He shook his head and let the fur drape back over him. 

“I’m fine, Astrid. The kids are playing Hide and Seek.” He heard his grandfather say. “We should probably try not to interfere, lest we be accused of cheating.” Lars smiled, thinking this would be the best hiding spot in the history of Hide and Seek. They might not even find him until bedtime.

As the adults starting chatting about the amount of grain needed to last through the winter, Lars’ resolve started to wear thin. He pulled his knife from his belt, the only toy he had at the moment and started to finger the blade. He watched the fire glimmer off of his Grandfather’s false foot, and watched how it warmed up the underside of the wooden chair. His gazed moved upwards, to the seat, where he found runes carved into the now hardened wood. Running his fingers over the etchings he wondered why they were there and what they said. 

Lars was just starting to learn how to read, but he could write his name well enough. There were 6 letters here, and the word started with an S, just like in his name. The next letter was a T, and he knew his vowels well enough to recognize the O and I. He couldn’t quite figure out the last two runes though. Next to this word was more runes, but this symbol he’s seen many times before. It was how his grandfather signed his name on all of his works. He shuffled around to face the fire and looked up to see more runes carved into the chair. He’s definitely seen those before. While he couldn’t recognize the individual runes, he knew that was his dad’s name, just not as polished as the signature Lars remembers seeing just a week ago. So, his Dad’s name, and his Grandfather’s name. Maybe the first word was his Great Grandfather’s name. 

Lars started thinking about what his great grandfather’s name could be. He sounded out the first few letters that he recognized while fingering the carving on the underside of the chair. There was a huge statue out in the main plaza of him, with many runes and pictures of his life, and the life of his grandfather. He tried to think back, what did his father say?

_”This is your Great Grandpa,” Nuffink gestured to the giant statue with one hand, while the other held Lars tightly. “Chief Stoick the Vast.” His father smiled down at him, but Lars only squinted up, trying to take in the giant. _

_“Was he really this tall?” Lars turned back to his father. Nuffink looked back up at the statue, using a hand to shield his eyes from the afternoon sun. _

_“Don’t think so,” he laughed. “But well, I never got to meet him myself. Maybe Grandpa Hiccup can tell you later.” _

Stoick. Stoick the vast. That was definitely the name carved into the chair he was sitting under. His fingers moved over to the ‘HIII’ he recognized as his Grandfather’s insignia. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Moving again, he found his father’s carving. Nuffink. Not as neat as the first 2, it was almost like his own handwriting. His father must have done this when he was little like him, and that gave Lars an idea.

His little knife was still in his hand, testing the weight of the little blade, he carefully brought it up to the other side of the seat. He started slowly scratching his name into the wood. It was harder than he thought, but he was making progress.

“So, who is in charge of the festival decorations this year?” he heard his Aunt Zephyr’s voice above the usual dining hall din. His Grandfather started to laugh aloud, before quickly settling down. “What is so funny dad?” Lars could hear the stern questioning that Aunt Zephyr used all the time.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. There seems to be, haha, a little terrible terror scratching my seat.” He heard a few of the elders laugh. 

“Really, now.” Aunt Zephyr did not sound pleased at all. Lars was just finishing the S in his name when he heard what sounded like a herd of cattle stomp into the dining hall. Chairs groaned against several adults all turning around to see the ruckus.

“Is Lars here?” Lars stopped all movement under the chair, this was it. Either the game was won or the jig was up, all depending on if his grandparents gave him away. But Grandpa Hiccup promised. Of course it was his cousin Einar who asked, no doubt the rest of the troupe was with him. Was he the last one left in this game, did he win? But if he popped his head out to peek and he wasn’t the last one found, then it was all over. For now he waited, afraid to breathe in fear of giving away his position.

“You know children aren’t allowed in here when the adults are meeting. And Mikkel, you should know better.” Lars could hear the disdain in Aunt Zephyr’s voice, directed at her older son. Sometimes Lars felt bad for Mikkel, with the way Aunt Zephyr treated him. “If you don’t leave us be, I’ll kick you all outside to play until we’ve finished.”

The gaggle of kids dispersed quickly enough, allowing Lars to breathe again. He even hazarded a peek out from behind the fur curtain. He saw his grandma smiling back at him, before she turned and reached an arm across the table. “Zephyr, no need to be so harsh. I know it’s hard to get stuff done with kids underfoot, but no harm was done. And really, we’re just hashing out the snoggletog plans. It’s not like they were intruding on a war council.”

“Mom, please. It’s still important. And I’d like to wrap this up sometime before midnight.”

The fur had moved away, and he watched his grandfather gesture to him. “Come ‘ere Little Terror. Come up and sit on my lap. I think you’re safe for now. Aunty Zephyr scared them all off.” Hiccup chuckled.

Lars looked to his aunt as he climbed up. “Father!” She exclaimed and Lars thought she looked like a beached cod with her mouth open. 

Hiccup smiled at her while shifting to get comfortable with Lars in his lap. “Why don’t you finish your party planning with the rest of the group here and leave the kiddoes to me.” 

“Yes, Chief.” Zephyr looked slightly abashed before turning to face the Ingermans and Jorgensons at the end of the table, who were trying their best to look humble. Lars figured they must be used to dealing with Haddock Family drama by now.

“Don’t worry about your Aunt, she just has way too much of your Grandma Astrid and Great Grandpa Stoick in her. But she’s only stern because she loves you all so much. You’ll understand someday.” His grandfather whispered to him as the meeting continued, seemingly outside of their private space in the oversized chair in front of the hearth.

“Grandpa, you wanna know something?” 

“Of course, I’m listening.” Hiccup smiled and nodded for Lars to continue.

“I saw your name, carved into the chair, and my dad’s, and Grandpa Stoick’s.” He then looked down at his knife in his hand, before looking back up at his grandfather. “So, I carved my name into the chair too. I hope you’re not mad. Please don’t me mad.” Lars was afraid now that he did something he shouldn’t have, so much so that he dropped his knife into his lap and placed both hands on Hiccup’s shoulders. Lars closed his eyes and waited for the backlash. 

“Haha, I had forgotten about that. I’m glad you found it. See, Grandpa Stoick’s name is there because he built this chair, and carved all the wonderful little details into it. All artists sign their name on things that they create.” he paused a second and ruffled Lars’ messy blonde hair. “I think, I carved my name in the chair when I was your age, in a very similar situation as this.” He gestured to the meeting that was happening across the table, Lars heard something about pop-overs and honey cakes from Mrs. Jorgenson. “Although, I doubt I was playing hide and seek.” Hiccup rubbed his chin thoughtfully before grinning at Lars. “I grew up in a pretty empty house. It’s absolutely wonderful to see all of you kids running around and playing together. Makes me feel less alone, and so very happy.”

“And Papa’s name was there too.” Lars played with the buckles of Hiccup’s coat. 

“Right, when your papa was just learning his runes and writing his name, he would practice on everything he could get his hands on. Your grandma had to scrub charcoal off the walls, where Nuffink practiced writing, very badly I might add. I think your papa was sick of us washing away all of his work that he turned to carving his name in things. If you search around, you’ll probably find more than just this chair with his tag scratched in.” The corners of Hiccups eyes wrinkled as he smiled at the memories. It reminded Lars of his father, staring up at the statue of Stoick the Vast.

Just then a large thud shook the house and the talking ceased in the Dining Hall. His little cousin Yda ran into room crying, with the toddler Tnut following closely behind. Zephyr took a deep breath, and Mrs. Ingerman started to stand up to take care of her daughter before His grandma stood up from her chair next to him. 

Placing a calming hand on Zephyr’s shoulder Astrid turned to Mrs. Ingermann, “Don’t worry Kari, I’ll go see what’s the trouble up there.” She patted Zephyr’s shoulder, “Go ahead without me, I don’t mind!” And then deftly picked up her crying granddaughter in one arm and took Tnut’s chubby baby hand in the other. “Now Yda, tell Grandma what’s all the fuss about here, and Tnut, why are you so sticky?” 

Lars wondered why his grandma didn’t know that toddlers were always sticky, they didn’t need a reason to be sticky, they just were. His sister, Liv, just turned three in the spring and she was finally not sticky all the time, it was tough trying to hang out with the older kids when you had a sticky toddler following you around everywhere. Lars shook his head at the memory, and now he forgot what he was going to ask Grandpa about before being so completely interrupted by sticky babies. 

“Grandpa, can I ask you something?” Hiccup knew about Lars’ habit of asking before speaking, often starting a conversation with, ‘you wanna know something?’, but he couldn’t quite place where he picked it up from. Maybe it was from years of always being told not to interrupt the adults and waiting your turn to speak.

“Go ahead, I’m listening.” 

Lars looked up at the mantle above the hearth, a few family treasures were kept up there. And of course the walls were covered in shields and axes that were polished and ready for use in a moments notice. He was really just trying to pull back the lost thought, something about his father, no, his great grandfather. He spotted a rather large shield with the Hooligan Tribe emblem painted across it’s face.

“Was grandpa Stoick as tall as his statue?”

Hiccup burst out laughing, forgetting about the Snoggletog planning party, which earned him some dirty looks from across the table. Hiccup lowered his gaze apologetically before turning back to his grandson. “It certainly felt like it sometimes, the way he loomed over me, but I assure you, Grandpa Stoick was really only a hands-width taller than me. Maybe two...” he added as an afterthought.

The swarm of children could be heard moving through the house with lightning fast speed. And Lars suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be hiding.

“Lars!” Spikelout Jorgenson’s voice ripped through the Dining Hall as Lars shot like a bolt from his Grandfather’s lap. “You cheat! You know we’re not allowed in here!” 

“Ssssorry!” Lars stammered as he back away from the Seekers, only stopping when his back hit an ornamental spear rack next to the Hearth. As he turned around he saw the spears knock over a shield which rolled across the mantle, spilling goblets and other treasures onto the floor behind his Grandfather. Hiccup instinctually sprang up and pulled Lars out of the way of the falling cacophony. In doing so, he threw his fur cloak that was draped across his lap onto the table, making victims of the mead cups and wine goblets that unfortunately got in the way.

When the scene settled, the kids were left wide eyed and rigid while the adults fussed about trying to keep damage minimal. The only adults not moving were Hiccup, still holding Lars while his brain caught up with what just happened and Zephyr who looked like she was trying to not cry and not scream at the same time.

A few breaths later his grandmother came back into the Hall, this time with a different toddler in her arms and looked around. “Now what happened here?” She looked at her husband of 30 years with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m gone for 5 minutes and you’re destroying the place now? Can’t leave you alone for a moment.” She was shaking her head, but there was a wistful smile breaking free.

“Actually,” Lars started before he felt his grandfather pat his shoulder lightly.

“You know me, m’lady” He cocked his head and shrugged, smiling back at his wife across the room. “Can’t trust me to walk around without breaking something.” 

Aunt Zephyr stood slowly from her chair, the sound of heavy wood scraping against the floor got everyone’s attention. “I’m moving this meeting to the Great Hall. Since you don’t seem too interested in the agenda tonight, Dad.” Zephyr was leaning on the table, palms flat on the surface, staring down at the mess of mead and cheese. Lars never thought he’d see his Aunt so defeated.

Lars looked up over his shoulder at his grandfather, feeling dreadfully awful about messing everything up. Hiccup looked a little sheepishly back at Zephyr, “Sorry Honey, I got too caught up in the moment. It’s ok, you can catch me up on the details later. I’m sure you’ll be fine on your own.”

“Thanks, umm,” Zephyr looked around at the kids about the Hall. “Do you mind babysitting tonight, Dad?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Hiccup straightened up and started to walk across the room to his grandchildren and great nieces and nephews, stopping only to give his daughter a quick hug. “Let’s go upstairs kids! Who wants to hear a story?”

**Author's Note:**

> I realized, after I wrote this that the Chair may have been lost in the fire of HTTYD3, but let’s just pretend it was one of a few items saved (along with Hiccup’s map). This was my first HTTYD fic and my first fic posted to AO3, I hope you enjoyed it! I may add more chapters from other kid’s perspectives later. And I don’t mean to be so harsh on Zephyr, she’s just stressed out.


End file.
